There's Something Good Waiting Down This Road
by lost-n-stereo
Summary: AU. Rachel spends her mornings jogging through Central Park. She literally runs into Puck one day, and decides she likes New York a lot more than she ever thought she would. Will be two chapters at least, maybe more.
1. Chapter 1

She knows it's beyond cliché to jog through Central Park but she does it every day anyway. The cool morning air and the smell of fresh cut flowers put her mind at ease as her feet methodically hit the pavement. She hasn't lived in New York long but her morning jogs are fast becoming one of her favorite things about living here.

She wakes up bright and early every day, usually without her alarm clock. After her shower and a quick breakfast, she pulls on yoga pants and a sweatshirt and pulls her hair up into a ponytail. She changes her playlist every day, mixing in Top 40 hits and old classics. She makes sure her shoelaces are tight before securing her ear buds in. She's ready to run.

* * *

><p>She tries not to take the same route every time but she's grown quite fond of the Reservoir. She loves to see the skyline in the distance as she makes her way around the track and there are always interesting people milling around. Some are joggers; some are bird and people watchers. There's an old man that sits and reads the daily paper every morning at the same time on the same bench. Rachel assumes he's probably been doing it for years and it always makes her smile. He waves today as she passes him and she grins as she waves back.<p>

She likes New York. It's been a long road getting here but she's glad she finally made it.

Her phone rings halfway through her jog and as much as she wishes she could ignore it, she knows it could be her agent with an audition. She clicks her Bluetooth before saying hello.

"Hey bitch, what are you doing?" She rolls her eyes at her best friend's normal telephone greeting and glances around as she turns a corner.

"It's 8:30, San. What do you think I'm doing?" Her friend snorts.

"Well, if you were anyone else and you were out of breath answering the phone, I'd assume you were just boning. But, because I know you…" Rachel laughs and slows her job to a fast walk.

"I'm not going to let you finish that sentence. What are you doing up so early, anyways? It's Saturday. Shouldn't you be passed out or hiding in your apartment with the shades drawn while you consume massive amounts of Gatorade to get over your headache?"

"You're fucking hilarious. I'm up because I have that stupid company picnic today that I can't get out of. Stupid lawyers and their stupid families. If I wanted to spend the day with a bunch of bratty kids, I would have gone to my sister's." Rachel laughs out loud as she stops to take a breath. There are more joggers out now and she rolls her neck as she glances out over the water.

"You should come jogging with me sometime. It really is so nice out today." Santana scoffs.

"Yeah, no thanks, I'd rather do anything else. I'd rather let my dentist drill my teeth with no Novocain. I'd rather have sex with Kurt. I'd rather…" Rachel rolls her eyes as she stretches.

"Okay, okay, I get it! Look, San, I should really get back to my…" She's distracted immediately by a gorgeous man jogging past her. His basketball shorts are riding low on his hips and there is no shirt to be found. He's tall with tanned skin and the most amazing arms she's ever seen.

"Rachel…Rach…what's wrong? Are you getting mugged? Please tell me you're not getting mugged, I left my pepper spray at some guy's house the other night." She snaps back to reality when she hears her friend's voice.

"I'm here. I'm fine."

"What's going on with you? Why do you sound like you just had an orgasm?" Rachel blushes and looks around even though she knows she's the only one that can hear her.

"I just saw the most…beautiful man. I don't even know how to describe him. He was just…wow." Santana laughs on the other end and Rachel knows her mind is in the gutter. That's one of her favorite traits of the girl, her ability to make any situation completely inappropriate.

"You need to go find him. Go find him and stop working out in the lame way and start working out in the fun way." She can imagine the mischievous expression on her friend's face and it makes her laugh.

"I really need to get back to my work out…"

"Yeah you do…" She laughs and tells her that she'll call her back and starts her jog again. She's not going to go looking for the guy, but if she happens to see him again then it is what it is.

She doesn't see him again though and she doubts that she ever will. New York City is a big place and who knows how many people jog here every day. She's not going to let some guy she's only seen once work his way into her brain.

* * *

><p>She doesn't expect to see him the next day. She decided to run the same track today, breaking her rule of changing up the scenery. She's completely lost in her music when she feels a breeze past her and he's jogging ahead. He turns around and gives her a quick smile and she thinks she might burst into flames. Now that she can see him up close she can tell that he has hazel eyes that practically sparkle in the sun. She makes fun of herself for even thinking such a thing but it's true.<p>

She stays back a little so she can watch him run and she's enjoying the view. She can tell he's playing some sort of rock music by the way he bobs his head up and down as he runs. He moves gracefully and she wonders if he plays any sports, or if he's just naturally agile. She eventually feels like a stalker just following him around so she turns up her iPod and focuses on her jog. She's reaching down to change the song when she runs straight into his back.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry!" She can tell she caught him off guard but he hardly moved an inch. He's pretty solid, she can tell that much from running into him. It felt like hitting a brick wall. He pulls an ear bud out and she can hear "Rock You Like A Hurricane" blaring from the little speaker. He gives her an amused look as she brushes herself off.

"Y'alright there?" She dares a glance at his face and blushes when she sees him smirking back. She nods as she stands up straighter.

"Yeah, yes. I'm okay, thank you." He smiles as he pulls the other headphone out of his ear and turns off his iPod.

"I'm Puck…you run here often?" She's wondering if that's some sort of pick up line when he laughs. "That's not a pick up line, if that's what you're thinking." She blushes again and she really wishes she would stop doing that.

"Of course not. I'm Rachel. I've been jogging here a few months, I just moved here." Her cheeks burn as he looks her up and down.

"Fresh off the bus from Iowa?" That makes her roll her eyes and she shakes her head.

"Ohio, actually." He laughs as he fastens his ear buds back into his ears.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Ohio. Maybe I'll see ya around sometime." She doesn't get a chance to respond before he winks at her and returns to his jog.

She fishes her cell out of her pocket and sends a text to Santana to meet her for lunch. She backtracks and jogs back to her apartment to finish early for the day. She thinks a girl's day is just what she needs.

* * *

><p>She laughs as soon as she sees her other best friend Kurt sitting at the table with Santana. He jumps up and gives her a hug before she sits down.<p>

"Okay, tell me all about this new guy! I want every dirty detail!" She rolls her eyes and asks for a water when the waiter comes to the table.

"There are no dirty details. I've only seen this guy twice in my lifetime. " Santana scoffs as she takes a bite of her salad.

"Honey, I could spill dirty details on guys I've only seen once in my life." Kurt gives her a look and she just shrugs while Rachel giggles.

"Honestly, you guys, it was nothing. It was stupid, really. I wasn't paying attention, I ran into him. He said his name is Puck…what kind of name is Puck?" Kurt rolls his eyes as he picks at his bagel.

"Maybe he plays hockey? Or maybe he's good in bed…you know Puck rhymes with fu.." Rachel smacks her friend in the arm.

"Santana! We're in a restaurant; can you behave for five minutes?" Santana just gives her a sweet smile and goes back to her meal. She's known the girl almost her entire life, and when they agreed to move to New York together she was excited that she'd have her best friend there to experience it all with. They are as different as night and day and Rachel wouldn't have it any other way.

"So are you going to see him again?" Kurt is the romantic of their little group and he believes that fate with always come through in the end. Rachel isn't a cynic by any means but she doesn't so much believe in fate as she does hard work and patience. She met Kurt in the first theater class she took when she moved here. She considers him one of her best friends, even though she hasn't known him as long as she's known Santana.

"I really don't know. I didn't notice him before yesterday, but he's ran the same track two days in a row. Maybe he only goes weekends, or maybe he only jogs in that area, I just don't know." She digs in as soon as her waiter brings her veggie burger. They manage to finish their meal without anything else said about him, and by the end of the day, she's so exhausted that when her head hits the pillow, she doesn't realize his face is the last she thinks about before she falls asleep.

* * *

><p>She doesn't seem him the next day, or the day after that. She takes a different route on Wednesday because she's bored of the same view after running it four days in a row. She skips her Thursday run for an early morning audition, and by Friday she's sure she's never going to see him again. When Saturday rolls around, she actually convinces Santana to jog with her, and sure enough there he is. She slows down and Santana looks at her weird before she sees him ahead.<p>

"Holy fuck." Rachel just laughs and nods and they jog next to each other for a minute without saying anything. She thinks now that it's pretty obvious that he only jogs on the weekends, and that he must only use this track. He might live around here, or maybe he has a job where he only has time on the weekends to jog. She's curious about his story, where he's from, what he does.

He's stopping to stretch when they pass by him and he smiles at them.

"G'morning ladies." They smile and wave as they pass and as soon as they are out of sight they stop jogging.

"Wow, he's literally sex on a stick." Rachel shakes her head and laughs.

"I know, right? I don't even know what to do…" Santana laughs as she stretches her arms above her head.

"You fuck him until you forget your name, that's what you do." Rachel hisses her name and looks around. "Oh come on, he can't hear me. Even if he was around, he probably has Def Leppard or Lynyrd Skynyrd or whatever it is guys like him listen to blasting in his ears." Rachel just rolls her eyes and turns her own iPod on, making sure Santana sees her push the play button. Santana laughs and flips her off before turning on her own.

They don't see him for the rest of the day, but she's sure that if she decides to take this route tomorrow he'll be there again.

She's not sure if she's excited or nervous about the idea of seeing him again. Then she realizes it's stupid to be worrying about it at all so she doesn't.

She tells herself as she adds lip gloss and a swipe of mascara to her beauty regime the next morning it's only because she feels like it. She also knows that she's lying.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you to everyone that reviewed and added this story to their favorites and story alerts! I am slowly building up my confidence writing P/R so I'm glad you all are enjoying it! Here is the second, and probably last, part of this fic. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

><p>It's not that he hates his morning jogs; he just wouldn't be bothering if he didn't have to. His football coach insists they run two days a week outside of practice so he tries to get it done on the weekends to get it out of the way. Sometimes he slacks off, especially if he had a late one the night before, but he's pretty good about keeping on top of it. He's gotta keep his football scholarship if he wants to stay in school and he'll be damned if he ends up back home. He's not gonna be a small town chump like his dad, he's gonna do something with his life. He just doesn't know what that is yet.<p>

He chooses Central Park because it's got killer views of the city and all the girls. He definitely does not get sick of the masses of beautiful women that come out here to jog. They are all gorgeous and toned with tan skin from being outside all day. He likes to play his music loud in his headphones, classic rock because that's the only way to go. His mom's always on his ass about losing his hearing but fuck it. That's for Future Puck to worry about and right now, he can listen to The Stones as loud as he wants.

* * *

><p>It's just another random Saturday for him when he sees her for the first time. That's how he thinks about her too…<em>her. <em>He's doing his regular thing, shorts and no shirt, jogging down the path of the Reservoir when he sees her stretching and talking to someone over Bluetooth. He usually hates those damn things (you never know if someone is talking to you or someone else) but on her it's kind of cute. She's really into the conversation so he figures she probably won't even notice him. He just jogs by without a second look and finishes his run.

Later that night, he shoots a text to his best friend.

_Saw the hottest fucking girl today. _

It doesn't take long before Blaine texts him back.

_That's nice. Did you speak to her or just ogle her _assets_?" _ He laughs because the kid knows him way to well.

_I didn't really even see her front. But what I saw from the back was outstanding. _

Blaine makes him promise that if he sees her again he'll say something to her. Damn him for having a gay best friend that wants him to have like, feelings and shit. He agrees because it's easier that way, and when he goes to bed that night he wonders if he'll ever see her again.

* * *

><p>And he does, the next morning, when he decides to take that track again. She's running with her headphones in and he can see her lips moving along with the lyrics. He's sure it's probably some Top 40 crap, that cookie cutter shit he can't stand to listen to. She's jogging kind of slow so he moves past her quickly. He doesn't want to seem like an asshole so he turns around and gives her a smile before heading forward again.<p>

And the front? Gorgeous. He doesn't think he's ever seen a chick that hot. And she's not hot in the conventional, blonde hair & big tits kinda way. She's just fucking pretty.

He's internally head banging to "Rock You Like A Hurricane" when he feels something, someone, hit him hard in the back. It barely makes him move, so it's gotta be someone little. He's almost not surprised that it's her when he turns around. She starts saying something that sounds like an apology as he pulls his ear bud out. He asks her if she's okay and her nervousness makes him smirk.

"I'm Puck…you run here often?" Fuck, that sounded like a line. The look on her face lets him know that she's thinking the same thing. He makes sure to tell her that's not the case. She gets all nervous again and fuck, she's cute.

Rachel…at least he's got a name now. And he now knows that she's a small town girl from Ohio. She doesn't look like a small town girl though, he's from one and the girls never looked like that. He wants to stay and talk but he has a stupid basketball game today with one of his friends and he's already flaked on the dude 4 times in the past month. He's not going to go into all that with someone he barely knows though so he just tells her he'll see her around and winks as he jogs away.

* * *

><p>"So I met this chick today…she's hot as fuck." Puck dribbles the ball around his friend Finn and goes to shoot it towards the basket. It hits the rim and Finn snags it easily with one of his freakishly large arms. Seriously, the guy is a giant.<p>

"Dude, you tell me that like every day. At this point, I'm just not impressed by your tales of hot chicks I'll never get to bang in my life, so what's new?" Puck rolls his eyes and tries to block Finn from taking his shot. That's next to fucking impossible because the guy's got like four feet on him. Finn makes it easily and grins when Puck sends him a shitty look.

"There's something about her man, I don't know what it is. I've seen her jogging the past couple of days around that track at the Reservoir. She's tiny, but she's got legs for days. It's fucking ridiculous."

They start a game of horse that ends quickly and Finn brings Rachel up again when they are sitting on the bleachers.

"So, did you get her number?" Puck squirts some water into his mouth from his bottle and shakes his head.

"Nah, I didn't have time because I had to race here to meet up with you, fucker." Finn just shrugs.

"You could have rescheduled." Puck groans and punches his friend in the arm.

"Thanks, asshole. Now you tell me."

* * *

><p>He suffers the week of hell, between classes and football practice. His coach is working them harder than usual and it's taking a toll on his mental health. He shoots a text to Blaine and Finn telling them to meet up with him for drinks. Finn tells him he's bringing a couple of guys from work and Puck doesn't care as long as he can get drunk.<p>

He wakes up Saturday morning hung over as all hell and he texts Finn to tell him to fuck off for making him drink that much. He gets a photo text a minute later and he raises an eyebrow as he opens it to see a pic of Finn flipping him off. It makes him laugh and he sends back a text that just says "well played, sir."

He knows that he should just bail on his jog today but he is kinda hoping he'll get to see Rachel again. He takes a quick shower and grabs the cleanest shorts he can find along with his sneakers. He's got his Saturday mix cued up on his iPod and he's ready to go.

He's been jogging for almost an hour and he's stopping to stretch when he sees her and another girl jogging past. Her friend is hot, not hot in the same way Rachel is, but fucking stunning all the same. He isn't gonna try to run game with her friend there; he's been shot down too many times by girls trying to look cool for their friends, so he just waves.

"G'morning ladies." They don't stop but they both smile and wave. He watches them as they turn the corner and leans against the railing beside him as he pulls his phone out.

_Just saw Rachel again…fucking hottest girl, dude I swear. Sucks you're gay, her friend was hot too._

He grins when he reads Blaine's response.

_Classy Puckerman…like always._

He knows he's going to see her the next day; it's obvious she's running this track all of a sudden for a reason. He knows that, and he's sure she knows that too.

He won't be missing his run tomorrow, that's for sure.

* * *

><p>"Good morning, Puck."<p>

He smiles because he hasn't even seen her yet, but she's obviously seen him. He turns around and is a little taken back with how pretty she looks. Like she always looks pretty but her lips are all shiny and her eyes look huge. She's got the tightest yoga pants on and a tiny little sports bra, her hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Mornin'. Where's your friend?" She shrugs and looks around before bringing back her leg to stretch. Fuck, she's flexible.

"That was actually the first time I've ever gotten her to jog with me. She hates to exercise." He's surprised because her friend was in amazing shape. He guesses some girls are just lucky that way. "So, I was thinking…would you like to run with me today?" He grins and nods and they pick a track and start to jog.

He's normally not good at the whole, being around a girl and not fucking her thing, but just running with her is nice. They stay pretty close, keep the same speed, and she looks over and smiles at him every once in awhile. They take a quick break and sit on a park bench for a few minutes. She tells him about herself, that she's from Lima, Ohio and that she wants to make it big on Broadway.

"Sing for me." He tells her instead of asking, but she doesn't take the bait. She just smiles shyly, shakes her head and says "There's a time and place for everything."

He's exhausted by the time they are done and she just thanks him for running with her, asks him if he'd like to do it again the next weekend. He does, and he tells her that, but before he can get her number she's walking fast in the other direction.

"Meet me where we met today, next Saturday at 8 am!" She smiles brightly and takes off quickly. He's not sure what it is but he likes this girl.

* * *

><p>"So tell me about her." He's grabbing a slice of pizza off the tray between him and Blaine and he groans.<p>

"Dude, you are worse than a chick." Blaine just raises an eyebrow and waits for him to finish the bite he has in his mouth. He rolls his eyes and leans back in the booth. "Fine, fuck! She's 20, just moved here from some small ass town in Ohio. She's a singer, wants to be on Broadway." This obviously peaks Blaine's interest because he sits up a little higher in his chair.

"Is she good?" Puck just shrugs and takes another bite.

"Dunno, I told her to sing for me but she wouldn't." Blaine pulls out his phone and starts typing something in.

"What's her name?" Puck gives him a look and Blaine laughs. "I know her name is Rachel, what's her last name?"

"How the hell should I know, we didn't share social security numbers, we just jogged together." Blaine rolls his eyes.

"What's the town she's from?" Puck remembers it because he was thinking that he would hate to be from a town with the same name as a gross bean.

"Lima. Lima, Ohio." Blaine types some more stuff into what Puck can only guess is Google before he grins and holds his phone up to Puck.

"Is that her?" His eyes go big as he pulls the phone out of his friend's hand.

"Holy shit, yeah! Wow, she was even hot in high school." Berry. That's her last name, and they use it to search her on YouTube. They find some performances from her school's glee club; they apparently made it all the way to Nationals one year. They pick one to watch of her singing "Don't Rain On My Parade" and by the end, Puck is in awe and Blaine is practically in tears.

"She is amazing, Puck. You have to see this girl again. And not just jogging!" He nods because, duh. He can tell this girl isn't like anyone he's ever met before. He's gonna have to step his game up if he wants a shot.

* * *

><p>"So, if I told you that my friend and I Googled you, would you think I was a stalker?"<p>

They are thirty minutes into their jog Saturday morning and when he says this she starts laughing so hard she has to stop running.

"You Googled me? Really?" He rolls his eyes and brushes the sweat of the back of his neck.

"Whatever, you said you were a singer and my best friend is into musicals or whatever." She gets kinda quiet and doesn't say anything which makes him nudge her arm. "What? Did I totally freak you out?" She laughs and shakes her head.

"No, it's just…that's incredibly sweet. That you and your friend would go through that kind of trouble. What's her name, is she a singer too?" He is confused for a minute before he realizes he didn't say who his friend was.

"His name is Blaine, and yeah, but not like professionally. Mostly Katy Perry songs every Thursday night at the bar." She laughs and nods like she understands.

"My friend Kurt also enjoys good karaoke, only his taste is more Streisand than Katy." He thinks this might be in and it's now or never so he takes it. Plus maybe he can hook his bro Blaine up while he's at it.

"We should all go one night. I'm into music too; I used to teach guitar lessons in high school. Could be fun." He thinks he hit it right on the head with the music thing because she's nodding and smiling.

"Okay, I'd like that. I'll give you my number after our run and we can figure it out from there." He smiles and points the way and she nods and follows him.

He's used to running alone but realizes it's much better when there's someone by his side.

He's hoping he can keep this one here for awhile.


End file.
